Anti-gay discrimination might be fading in many parts of the country, but it is alive and well in several state legislatures, where lawmakers are trying to legalize practices that recall the segregation era.

So far the prize for prejudice appears headed to Arizona — if Gov. Jan Brewer goes along. She has until the end of the day Saturday to decide whether to sign a measure that would let businesses or self-employed individuals refuse to serve gay and lesbian customers, or anyone else, as long as the refusal is based on sincerely held religious beliefs.

A baker who believes that interracial marriage is a sin could turn away a mixed-race couple wanting to buy a wedding cake. A Muslim hotel owner could refuse a room to a woman who would not cover herself with a burqa. Business owners who wanted to serve everyone could not force employees with certain religious beliefs to do so.

The state's business community is opposed, for obvious reasons. Such practices would surely ignite a rerun of the boycotts and sit-ins that sprang up across the South in the 1960s.

The most famous of those occurred at Woolworth in Greensboro, N.C., in 1960, when four black college students refused to leave their seats at a "whites-only" lunch counter. The next day, others joined them, then more. The non-violent protests spread, sometimes drawing a violent response. It was a pivotal moment that helped turn an appalled nation against segregation.

Four years later, Congress passed the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, among other things, banned discrimination in "public accommodations," essentially businesses serving the public. That principle was upheld by the Supreme Court, which seems certain to kill the Arizona legislation if Brewer doesn't. The law of the land is serve one, serve all.

The religious aspect of the current dispute puts a twist on the story, but not much of one. Many religions see homosexuality as a sin; the government could not constitutionally meddle in the internal affairs of a church or order a priest to conduct a same-sex marriage. But the Arizona legislation does no such thing. Instead, it attempts to stamp out the rights of gays to equal treatment under the law.

No other state is as far along as Arizona, but similarly discriminatory measures have passed one house in Kansas and Mississippi, and others are pending in Georgia, Oklahoma and Ohio.

Perhaps this was inevitable, given the speed at which the gay rights movement is advancing. Religious freedom provokes many knotty questions, from marriage to the Obama administration's controversial mandate that health insurance plans provide birth control and "morning after" pills. These issues are moving rapidly through the courts.

But the Arizona law isn't even a close call. Religious freedom does not give for-profit businesses that offer their services to the public the right to flout neutral, secular laws that apply to all.

USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.